Educational game



Patented lDeco ld, ln

nnnoiirroni-ir. lenivre- Application filed July 2-, 1920. Serial No. 39e/m6.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it knwn that l, 'BLANCHE lll. Es'rns, a citizen lof the United States, residing atPekin, in the county of rllazewelland State of lllinois, have invented certain new and useful improvements in an EducationalGame, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to an educational toy and design medium. i

- A prime object is to provide an .article of this kind utilizing puzzle blocks with which a number of independent pictures may be made on the board at the same time and which pictures may selectively be placed at various distances from eachother and in varied locations, in order to provide a more instructive and fascinating problem to the child to develop the constructive faculties.

l further aim to provide an article of this kind which may be useful to adults as well as children, for instance in the way of controlling scenes of people, animals, villages, landscapes, crochet designs, quilt blocks, book covers, stencil work and other dat work.

l also aim to provide an efiicient and novel means for containing the parts of the apparatus and Ifor the assemblage and retention of the blocks on the hoard.

lilith the alcove and additional objects such as will appear hereinafter as the description progresses, in view, the invention has been embodied in one preferred form as illustrated in accompanying drawings, wherein lfigure l is a plan View of the box or con'- tainer for the same pieces; Y

Figure 2 is a plan view of the assembling board;

Figure 3 is a plan view of the assembling board covered with blocks producing a picture;

Figure l is a cross section of the assembling board; p e5 FigureE 5 illustrates plan views of a group of blocks which may be used, and

Figure 6 is a perspective view of one of the blocks.

Referring specifically to the drawings 5o wherein like reference characters designate like or corresponding parts throughout the -several views, A designates-the assembling board, which may be of any suitable size and which is preferably made of wood, with flex- 55 ihle handles 7 thereon as shown. The snrface of the board is also grooved at 8 to provide squares 9 upon which blocks herein- 'afterdescribed are assembled. ln the center, of each square, a tapered recess l0 is pro- |lhe number of the blocks B greatly exceeds the number of the squares or blocks on the board A. For instance, l may have a block for each letter of the alphabet, a block for any desired number of numerals, blocks collectively representing an emblem, a cat, a pig, a clown, a. man in an unusual position,

an old maid,y a shoe, a hand, heads, different colors, etc., lt is to be noted in Figure 3 that the blocks comprising each of the subects are separate and distinct from the remainder of the blocks. ln this way, l may make separately, a plurality of subjects on the sanie board but in the same design or picture. llhese separate subjects may be arranged at any desired distance from each other and in any desired locations so that the y constructive faculties may be exercised practically without limit. By way of example, it will be seen that the blocks which cooperate to provide the picture of. the cat have no other delineation upon them. lf desired, the position of these blocks may be changed, say put in the location ofA those picturing the pig and the latter occupying the space vacatd by the blocks picturing the cat. Such exchanges of location and arrangements may be made by all of the independent designs. dassociated with these pictures, the numeral blocks or alphabetical blocks may be optionally used. By having a very large assortment of the blocks on hand, a great many pictures, designs, etc., may be delineated.

rlhe provision of the grooves 8 render the surfaces t) which receive lthe blocks separate so that if the boardshould warp or become distorted, there is less likelihood of these individual blocks-becoming distorted. When the board is used by a child around a sand pile for instance, sand which may fall on the hoard, will be moved into the grooves as the Ill@ blocks are positioned, so as not to interfere with the blocks resting flat on the board.

It will be understood that in assembling the blocks B, their prongs ll are inserted into the recesses l() removably.

A cabinet or retainer for the game pieces and parts is shown in Figure 1 and this may be a Wooden or pasteboard box, having a partition 12 to provide a space C for the game board and other partitions 13 providing suitable compartments 14 to receive the blocks or game pieces B, the latter usually being arranged according to subjects.

Sincemerely the preferred embodiment of the invention has bee-n illustrated and described, it is to be understood that changes in the details of construction maybe resortnaaaaae ed to within the spirit and scope, as dened by appended claim.

I claim: A puzzle comprising a board having a plurality of grooves dividing the surface into squares, said squares having central recesses, blocks covering the squares having prongs to enter said recesses, said blocks being interchangeable and having indicia thereon to form various objects at seleted positions over the surface of the board.

In testimony whereof, I have affixed my signature in the presence of tivo witnesses.

BLANCHE M. ESTES. lVitnesses BERTHA SARVER, SUSAN Pool.. 

